


X'aan

by freckledtilikum



Category: One Piece
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Female Monkey D. Luffy, Mentions of Character Death, Mentions of non-con, violence depicted
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:01:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22729582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/freckledtilikum/pseuds/freckledtilikum
Summary: Anger doesn’t go away easily. Maybe he blamed himself more than anything, but Ace can’t let go of the rage he feels towards Teach.
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy/Portgas D. Ace
Comments: 6
Kudos: 72
Collections: In Memoriam: A Portgas D. Ace Collection





	X'aan

**Author's Note:**

> category of Denial-Land: for those works that chose to ignore the above category, and bring us a world in which Ace lived past Marineford.  
> trigger warnings: mentions of character death, descriptions of graphic violence, reference to sexual assault, cisswapped (fem) Luffy  
> ships: mentions of Ace/Luffy  
> One of the bigger issues I take with “Ace Lived! AUs” is that no one likes to focus on the aftermath of what happened. No one likes to dig into the trauma. Because of that, I prefer focusing on that trauma, anger, a road to recovery- for the people like me, for the people recovery from some shit in their lives. 
> 
> To many, Ace is an incredibly relateable character. He’s impacted the lives of so many fans, myself included. Despite how little he showed in the anime itself, he’s managed to make one of the biggest impacts on plots, & still manages to hold a Top 5 place in fan favorites, 10 years after his death. 
> 
> I came into OP during Impel Down arc. I saw this play out in real time. This was what got me into One Piece, & it changed my life forever. So, here’s to Ace- & to every bleeding heart like myself.

Two long, agonizing years passed since his narrow escape from public execution. Ever since then, Ace has not known peace. His best (or worst, in Deuce’s opinion) kept secret was laid out for the entire world’s viewing, like dirty laundry thrown out on the lawn. There was nothing Ace could do to stop it either. Throughout his life, he was driven by the goal to do better, be more than his father’s shadow. All his life, he had fought to be someone else beside Roger’s Son, and for a while? He had achieved just that. 

Portgas D. Ace, captain of the Spade Pirates. Fire Fist Ace. Second Division Commander Ace, of the Whitebeard Pirates. 

Now, he looked upon his own wanted posters with revulsion. Each one had been changed since to read the dreaded: Gol D. Ace, wanted dead or alive. 

He knew in his heart that the ‘or alive’ part was nothing more than a joke. Now, when bounty hunters came at him? They had a certain spark in their eyes, a hatred for someone not himself. Pirates with a bone to pick sought him out, and even the common port resident made his own crowd disappearances near impossible. For the world hated Gol D. Roger, and he was all that remained of the reviled King of the Pirates. 

Public execution had never been enough to sate the bloodlust of these hate driven monsters. They wanted to wrap their hands around Roger’s neck themselves and watch the light leave his eyes. There was new found opportunity with Ace, should they be lucky enough to catch him on their own. None ever were thus far. He had been captured once before, and he vowed never to find himself in chains again. 

When Luffy dragged him away from Marineford, the Straw Hat captain was not so keen on departing. Ace meant the entire world to her, and she had wrapped her arms around him in a tight grip. They were both heavily bandaged, on death’s door. She begged for him to stay, because she had only just saved him from the jaws of death. 

But Luffy also meant the world to Ace. Where would he be, without her? Who would he be? She had saved his life without even realizing, a thousand times over, before he had ever been captured. When he was lost and without direction, she gave him a reason to keep pushing forward after Sabo’s death. To see her nearly throw her life away, all for him? It shook him to his very core. 

How could anyone expect him to come out of that okay? 

Watching his family throw themselves on the sword for his sake? Losing Whitebeard? Nearly losing Luffy as well? Ace could not stay. He waited just long enough to heal, and left when he thought he was safe from the now scarred over burn plastered across his back and chest. 

If nothing else, Teach deserved to die. For all he had wrought upon them, for all he had taken. Ace had not known peace since the night before Thatch’s murder. 

Ace knew his way around the now conquered Blackbeard territories. He had spent far too long patrolling these exact routes under Whitebeard’s flag, and was not surprised to learn the whereabouts of the newly risen Emperor. Usurper. He would not sully Whitebeard’s title by actually referring to Teach as Emperor, or Commodore, or whatever self-imposed rank he presented. He knew what awaited him, with inevitable confrontation: Possible death. However, he refused to go down without bringing Teach along with him. They would find and end there, and his revenge would be complete. Was that not fitting, after he had lost so much? What more was there to live for? 

With dogged determination and acceptance of the inevitable in mind, he schemed and plotted until Ace found himself on the ship of a former merchant, with a king’s worth of treasure on board as bribery. 

* * *

The merchant ship arrived in the heat of the afternoon, and called for an audience with Blackbeard himself. Catarina Devon arrived to greet him at the port, towering over him and utterly arrogant. Her eyes half-lidded and lips pursed at the sight before her: Some shorter man in silks, covering his face. She never had any personal interaction with the former second division commander, and was none the wiser about this supposedly disgraced merchant’s former identity. 

Besides… He presented her with tons of ivory, a treasure trove of beli and riches that made her see stars. He asked but one thing: “Let me meet Blackbeard.”

And that was how Ace found himself whisked away for an audience with the object of his nightmares. Larger than life, with a girl on each side, Teach reeked of cheap alcohol and smug arrogance. Ace would claim the stench of death was all around him, but that might not be so.

The last time they had seen each other, Ace was at his mercy. Beaten badly, humiliated, muzzled, and chained. The phantom touch of hands moved over him; heavily ringed fingers exploring his body in ways they should not. He felt ruined, after that. No good in this world could ever cleanse him of the degradation that Teach and his crew brought upon him in those miserable days leading up to his execution. They made a mockery of him back then, put him on display while they ravaged him in front of each other, or in whatever port they stopped at. They used him to barter for shore leave, letting whoever charged for docked ships have their way with him however viciously they wanted. 

Ace was more than humiliated then. He was broken, and considered himself unfixable. 

Luffy would be better off without him, he told himself as he stared upon Teach’s vile form. Luffy could do so much better, without him around. He would do her the favor taking out the competition while he was here, and that would be his parting gift. That was how he would repay his debt to her. He could not tarnish her any further with his presence, could not taint the radiance she gave off as she left miracles in her wake. Each island she visited was impacted in the best of ways. She was salvation incarnate, and he was nothing but damaged goods. 

Despite this, he can hear her plea in the back of his mind: “What’s the point of your freedom if you can’t even enjoy it!?” To rid her of this monster, so he never had the chance to lay hands on her either. 

The Emperor sat back against the couch with a girl on each side, draped against him. The sight made Ace’s stomach churn. Catarina barely had the chance to present their supposed merchant to the emperor before Teach raised a hand to silence her and stood. He had somehow gotten much bigger than the last time, and actually grew his beard out. There were braids throughout it, likely put in by the girls nearby. 

His laughter filled the room easily, reverberating off the walls to bounce back into the very soul of the faux-merchant before him. Ace swallowed down the growl attempting to claw its way up as Teach spoke: “Ace!” His voice boomed with smug recognition. “I knew you would come back to me.” 

The ex-commander reeled back with indignation. How dare Teach even joke like that when he knew Ace didn’t want anything that happened to him back then. “I came here to kill you, you shitty old man.” He would get straight to the point and keep his distance for the moment while his hands engulfed in a blaze. He knew better now, knew better than to let Teach get his hands on him.

\--Knew better than to not use his haki this time around either. 

“Kill me?” Teach laughed, obviously not taking this seriously. “We’ve already been through this, Ace! Ye can’t kill me. Quit cryin’ already--” His voice cut off as a flaming lance flew past and missed his head by mere inches. He felt the lick of flames against his cheek and smelled the tinge of burned hair. The fire crashed into the furthest wall, sending chips of brick and clay in every direction. 

Red eyes sparkled and shone with the intent to kill. He was doing this for Luffy. He wanted to protect Luffy. But her words kept echoing in the back of his mind. Was his death really what she wanted? Suddenly, he felt a twinge of doubt that twisted his gut. It was too late to back out now. Much too late. 

Couldn’t she understand? Would she ever forgive him?

Likely not. She had no reason to, and he had no right to ask it. But this was self-loathing, hatred brought on by the world and directed at all in it. Hatred that festered and grew, unbridled, directed at some vague concepts of human beings that suddenly focused on the monstrosity before him after Thatch’s untimely death. He had been unable to work through his emotions then, and that was what led to so much heartache and unnecessary death for someone so undeserving.

Despite it all: Luffy thought him worth it. She made that decision herself, to risk her life. Was he really just going to throw it away?

Another snarl from Teach nearly pulled Ace from his thoughts. He caught the flash of white which engulfed one of his enemy’s hands; a power the usurper did not deserve, and only enraged the ex-commander further. No, he would not throw this away. He could come home to her, like she begged of him. Protect her, as his new captain. He had to survive this then, no matter what.

Luffy was waiting for him.


End file.
